It’s a problem that has become all-too familiar in Ottawa.
As workers take over the Transitway to convert it to LRT, where do all the buses go?
And with planning for Phase 2 of the LRT project well underway, it’s a problem that’s spreading.
Residents living along and near Scott Street brought their concerns to an open house Tuesday night at the Tom Brown Arena. Starting in the fall of 2021 and lasting roughly two years, hundreds of buses will detour off the Transitway onto the western end of Scott Street west of Tunney's Pasture. The western terminus of Scott Street will be extended to connect to the Sir John A. MacDonald Parkway via a temporary corridor along the south side of Workman Avenue.
This will be the second time Scott Street is used as a major bus detour. The eastern end of the street is currently accommodating buses re-routed because of Phase 1 LRT construction, scheduled for completion in 2018.
For residents at the other end of the road, the concerns are much the same, increased traffic, noise and vibrations, air quality, and safety.
The open house was a chance for planners to explain why they feel Scott Street is still the best route for a temporary bus detour. They also laid out their initial plans to mitigate the impact, including installing barriers, temporary bridges, and extra lanes called queue-jumping lanes at a couple of the busier intersections, including Island Park Drive.
“To allow the buses to jump ahead of those cars, queue-jump ahead of those cars, is more than enough to keep both the buses moving reliably through the corridor as well as regular traffic," said Chris Swail, Director of O-Train Planning.
Swail says that, while the route of the temporary detour is determined, there is still time to “fine-tune” the mitigation strategies based on what residents suggest.
Many of the residents at the meeting were there for that very purpose. ”We accept the fact that there needs to be some disruption to make this work,” says Roland Dorsay with the Champlain Park Community Association. “But from our perspective the major issue is what are the right mitigation measures that you can take to minimize the negative impacts?”
